


Missing Moments

by emmabeth



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bittersweet, Cat/Human Hybrids, Established Relationship, M/M, Magic, Romance, Starcrossed Lovers, Writober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-13 16:48:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21000941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmabeth/pseuds/emmabeth
Summary: Yuri, Otabek, and JJ are torn on three sides of a war between their kingdoms. A few times a year they all go to a special place and meet. They take a break from the omnipresent danger of war and enjoy tender and sweet moments in each other's company.





	Missing Moments

**Author's Note:**

> Another Writober 2019 prompt for me. This one was Missing Moments. I took the chance to do a bittersweet story which is new for me.

Yuri quickly made his way across the quiet fields toward their special place. His tail twitched as he walked down a rocky hillside, his large ears alert for any sounds of danger. They’d had to make their hideaway out of the way of course, but it made it damn hard to get to when it was time. It was a chilly morning in May but the sun was coming up and it was shaping up to be a beautiful day.

Everything inside him was buzzing with excitement, knowing that soon he’d be reunited with his lovers. The two men who made so much of life worthwhile. Every day apart from them his body ached for their touch and his heart longed for them. It sounded sappy but it was true. There were countless moments he missed them and wanted them near. In everyday life, there were times where you just wanted to share a joke, a touch on the hand, something mundane when you lived with your lovers, but rare and sad when you lived apart. 

Since they couldn’t be together all the time, days like today were all the more precious. The circlet crown that Yuri was wearing weighed heavily on his head today, he scratched the fur around his ear and sighed, trying to ignore it. The hidden valley was their oasis where war, grief, prejudice, and duty could not cross into. 

He looked at the birds and the flowers, the subtle signs that JJ had left for them to point the way to the valley. Yuri’s naturally agile step made it an easy walk through the little creeks and gentle woods without a sound. 

As he neared the entrance to their valley, his ears swiveled around to the sound of an approaching step. Yuri ducked behind a tree, sniffing the air, his whiskers twitching. With a sigh of relief, he smelled Otabek nearby. His tail curled happily, already imagining wrapping around him and being close. 

Jumping up from his spot, he hurried forward to the entrance to the valley. He’d greet him once they were safe in their place. The entrance was hidden, but Otabek’s magic opened it up for Yuri to pass through. 

This whole place was thanks to Otabek. With his magic he’d carved the valley out for them, building their special place. Yuri had helped a little, covering any tracks and other signs that pointed to the valley’s existence, while JJ had built the little house in the middle of it. 

As Yuri stepped through into the valley, he saw smoke rising from the house where JJ was probably already making something delicious for them to enjoy. Yuri grinned happily, a purr rumbling through his body as he thought about JJ getting here extra early when he knew the human bard hated mornings. 

Yuri crept over to stand to one side of the entrance, and when Otabek came through, he pounced on him. He jumped up and wrapped himself around Otabek’s back, legs around Otabek’s waist and he bit his neck with a kitty growl. 

Otabek didn’t seem at all surprised by the kitty attack and stroked Yuri’s hair over his shoulder. If he was bothered by the little feline fangs in his neck he didn’t show it, he knew Yuri liked to mark them when he got the chance. 

“I missed you too.” Otabek smiled softly. 

Yuri purred happily and licked the bite mark. From the very beginning, Otabek had understood Yuri, their relationship had been effortless. 

He let Otabek carry him over to the house, looking over Otabek’s shoulder, waiting eagerly for JJ to come out. Unlike his relationship with Otabek, his relationship with JJ was full of more ups and downs, passionate but also fraught with trouble. Both relationships were perfect in their own way and Yuri always marveled at how the three of them could make it work all together. 

Yuri grabbed hold of Otabek’s battle mage robes and sniffed them. He could tell from the smell that Otabek had been back on the front lines of the war again. There was a pang in his heart that was inevitable. A recurring nightmare for Yuri was to look across the battlefield one day and see Otabek standing there. At least JJ had managed to avoid serving directly in the wars. Though as a bard he was used as a spy, a job which was full of its own dangers. 

Otabek stroked Yuri’s legs, probably sensing Yuri’s thoughts had strayed down a dark path. 

JJ ran out of the house before Yuri could speak. He was grinning from ear to ear as he ran up to them. 

“You’re here!” he said happily, his hands cupping Otabek’s face and giving him a long kiss. 

Yuri purred happily while the other two kissed. He finished scent-marking Otabek, rubbing his cheeks around Otabek’s nape until he smelled perfect. Then he scooted around, nimbly climbing from one lover to the other, resting comfortably on JJ’s back. 

Before Yuri could bite JJ and mark him too, JJ turned his head to kiss Yuri. “Hello, kitten,” he said happily. 

“Not a kitten. I’m a full-grown cat.” Yuri pouted but kissed him back. He cut their kiss short though, eager to mark JJ. He bit into JJ’s neck, a little harder than he needed to just cause he was getting him back for that kitten comment. 

JJ winced and chuckled, rubbing Yuri’s ears. 

“You were asking for it.” Otabek chuckled and took off his outer robes and his boots. 

“You have a new scar,” JJ said sadly, looking at Yuri’s forearm. It was clearly done by mage fire and still looked painfully new. 

Yuri nodded and kissed JJ’s cheek. Otabek looked up and frowned when he saw the scar, he immediately summoned a gentle blue light around his hand. It was healing magic, something that Yuri’s people didn’t possess, unfortunately. 

“You can't.” Yuri pulled his arm back. “They’ll notice,” he said softly, resting his head on JJ’s shoulder. 

Otabek’s face turned stony and the light in his hands went out. He looked down at the grass, probably angry he couldn’t help even a little. 

JJ quickly stepped in, putting an arm around Otabek’s shoulders and guiding him into the house. “I got some of those coffee beans you like. And I’ll have you know it was at no small peril to yours truly. There was practically a whole army of pirates after the same bag of beans.” 

Yuri stayed wrapped around JJ as they sat, then he went back to Otabek’s back, hugging him and giving him a little comfort while JJ distracted them with one of his outlandish adventures. 

“How long can you two stay?” Otabek asked them after they’d had some of the coffee and a small meal. 

“A few days.” JJ smiled happily. 

“Only until morning,” Yuri reported sadly. JJ reached over and rubbed Yuri’s ears, getting a small purr from him. Nobody reproached him for not staying longer, they understood. 

“I’m sorry the treaty fell through,” Yuri said. They usually didn’t talk about the outside things but this was important. Before now, JJ’s people and Otabek’s people had a treaty that joined them against Yuri’s people. But now the two groups had splintered, so all three kingdoms were fighting each other. It probably meant good things for Yuri’s people, considering they might win the war now. But Yuri worried endlessly about the two of them. 

JJ and Otabek nodded, sharing a kiss. 

“You’ve traded your hunting arrows for battle arrows,” Otabek said, nodding in the direction of JJ’s things stashed in a corner of the room. 

JJ sighed and shrugged, trying to play it off. “They have this crazy idea that they can conscript me into fighting. Me! As if I’m not the most famous bard in the three kingdoms,” he said with his usual exaggeration. 

Yuri and Otabek exchanged a look, but they let the matter drop. It was too painful to go on and they had only a limited amount of time to make sweet memories. 

Otabek scooted closer to JJ and pulled him in for a kiss. He may not talk a lot, but Otabek’s kisses spoke volumes. JJ had been mid-sentence, still bragging about how he was the best, but when he was kissed he melted into Otabek, finally quiet. 

\----

By evening the three lovers were stretched outside on the grass, bathed in the golden-pink light of sunset. Yuri rested between the two of them, purring contentedly as he was able to hold their hands and wrap his tail around their legs. 

Night fell reluctantly in the hidden valley as if the gods were giving them as much time as they could. They talked softly to one another, but overall they just drank in the pleasure of being together again. 

Yuri knew that they wouldn’t sleep tonight if they could help it. In these times of war, every moment could be the last, so every one was precious. 

“The bear is just peeking out.” JJ pointed out the constellations to them, pointing to the last star visible above the treeline on the far side of the valley. 

“I can never make out the constellations without you around.” Yuri sighed. Many times he’d looked to the diamonds in the night sky but saw none of the shapes JJ described. 

JJ grinned and scratched Yuuri’s ears. “Someday we’ll go out past the bear. Beyond the sea, there are free lands where we can find a place together. Together forever at last.” 

Otabek smiled at the sweet sound of that. “It’s a perfect dream,” he said. 

“Not just a dream,” JJ defended, “We’ll go as soon as we can.” He sounded so confident. 

In all honesty, though, none of them were free to run off. However, Yuri felt a pool of guilt inside of him. The other two might risk running off, but Yuri was the one who couldn’t just leave. He could barely afford to steal away for two days to meet them at this place. Once he thought of it, he realized he was holding them back from reaching that happy place. 

Yuri whimpered a little and tucked into them more, letting his lovers lean in to hold him. 

“Go now. Before it’s too late,” Yuri said, his voice resigned. “If the two of you are safe and away I would be able to live happily with that. Then maybe someday…” He trailed off. 

Otabek leaned up on an elbow, the moon behind his head. “JJ and I talked about it a long time ago. We agreed that if the fighting ever gets bad enough, we’ll go. Reluctantly.” He sighed. 

“But,” JJ leaned up as well, his face next to Otabek’s, “until that time comes, we would rather risk everything than live without being together. Neither of us wants to leave you to face all this alone. So, for now, we’re staying.” JJ smiled softly. 

Yuri bit back tears. How he’d won their love he didn’t know. But he’d pay back their devotion one thousandfold. 

He nodded and smiled a little at them. “I love you both.” He purred. 

They all shared kisses, missing the star shower in the sky above them. 

When dawn finally arrived, Otabek and JJ walked Yuri to the secret entrance and kissed once more. 

“Soon,” Yuri promised them. It was all they had to keep from their meetings here. The promise of the word soon. Soon they’d be together again, soon they’d be together forever, soon. 

For now, that word was enough to make them smile. “Soon,” they agreed in unison, waving to Yuri as he slipped out of sight. 

Yuri left, stepping back into reality and longing for the promise of soon. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to both [angelzoo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shades_0f_cool) and [NicoleAdianez](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NicoleAdianez) for keeping me writing and keeping the love of this ship alive.


End file.
